Friday, June 30, 2017

IN his career as a politician, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is not one to mince his words. But his differences with Prime Minister Najib Razak has never quite extended to Barisan Nasional (BN), the coalition he led in five successful election campaigns.

Until yesterday when his diatribe against Umno and BN showed how detached he is from his old party and coalition. He railed against its top leaders and accused them of colluding with Najib in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

“They just don’t care. They don’t care what happens to the country, to the people and the reputation of good governance that was built by the founding fathers.

“All they care about is their positions and their perks. Let the country go to hell. Let it be called a kleptocracy. Let it be listed among the 10 most corrupt countries in the world. They don’t care. Cannot be that they don’t know. But they don’t care,” said Dr Mahathir, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) chairman.

Here’s the thing, history repeats itself.

The Umno boat with Najib and his loyal men sailed long time ago. No matter how damaged he is by 1MDB, Umno and BN still believe he is their best bet for victory in the polls.

Not too dissimilar from the Umno and BN men who stood by Dr Mahathir through the sacking of Umno and when it was declared illegal, the black eye incident, the constitutional crises, etc.

Fact is the Umno and BN man is not governed by universal ethics or integrity. For him, only what is best for Umno and the coalition matters. Not the opinion of the rest of the world, or some section of the people in Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir can talk till the cows come home but the folks in Umno and BN are sticking to tradition by being loyal to the big boss. Of course, until the big boss decides to step down.

That happened to Tunku Abdul Rahman. That happened to Hussein Onn. That happened to Dr Mahathir Mohamad. That happened to Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Every leader gets full loyalty until the next change, undaunted by criticisms and mocking by others.

If anything, Dr Mahathir’s latest salvo confirms two things. He has now learnt how immutable BN is and the only thing left to do is join Malaysians in railing against the ruling coalition.

And he is now the chief critic of the coalition he has built up during his 22 years in power. Just as Tunku Abdul Rahman was against the Mahathir government.

Will that be enough though, to appease those who think Dr Mahathir is just in it to get rid of Najib, and not Umno or BN? The jury is still out on that but his latest salvo reveals how far he is from his old coalition on the 1MDB scandal.

And that difference could just be the tipping point in the coming election campaign. Or not.